Today's Sports

Two weeks ago, a winter storm rolled through Kentucky, dumping several inches of snow and forcing the cancellation of high school basketball games. The Jan. 8 district match-up between Washington County and Bethlehem would have to wait until Jan. 22. Washington County is now hoping for a different kind of "whiteout" for tonight in Springfield.

The past week was filled with important district match-ups for the Washington County Commanders. WC lost a hard-fought contest at Bardstown last Tuesday, with everything coming down to the wire. As the Commanders held a slim 53-52 lead with 16.5 seconds left in the game, a three-pointer by Tiger sophomore guard Nathan Hall found the net with seven seconds left, sending the stunned WC faithful home with a heartbreaking loss.

Many residents of Central Kentucky have become very familiar with the varsity basketball players from St. Catharine College. And they have done so without ever attending a game.

The familiarity has stemmed from the many community service ventures of the Patriot women and men coached by Lena Bramblett and J.T. Burton. Within the last year the young players have painted houses, volunteered at local festivals, salvaged homes slated to be condemned, visited veterans centers and worked with elementary school students.

The Washington County Commanderettes opened the second half of the 2009-10 schedule with a road trip to Burgin to battle the 3-4 Lady Bulldogs.

The first quarter was all WC as the Commanderettes got off to a 16-11 start after the first period. Burgin came back in the second quarter, putting up 14 points to WC’s eight, to take a 25-24 lead into halftime.

WC pulled away in the second half, outscoring Burgin 14-10 in the third and 16-12 in the final quarter to win 54-47 and improve to 2-8 on the season.

It’s a new year, and there’s new life for both the Washington County boys’ and girls’ basketball teams. While each team has won only one contest so far this season, both the Commanders (1-9) and Commanderettes (1-8) are playing better now than they have all season, and some familiar faces, as well as new ones, are giving each squad their respective second winds.

After a holiday layoff spanning two weeks, the St. Catharine College basketball teams return to action Tuesday. Lena Bramblett’s women will visit Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, while J.T. Burton’s men will be at home against nationally ranked Southern Polytechnic State from Marietta, Ga.

Today's Washington County basketball doubleheader against Bethlehem has been canceled due to snow.

The games were originally slated for Friday night, then moved to Saturday. There is no makeup date set for the games, which were a pair of district contests.

The next scheduled action for the WC boys' and girls' teams is Tuesday at home versus Nelson County. The girls are scheduled to play the 6 p.m. game, followed by boys' action. For more news and updates, look to www.thespringfieldsun.com.

When a team enters into tournament play, it comes down to the luck of the draw as to who your opponent is for any given day. The Washington County Commanders entered the 2009 Mordecai’s Holiday Homecoming Classic last Saturday with an opening round game against neighboring Marion County, the host team for the tournament.